Organic Produce Delivery 4-6-13

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Yep, still doing the organic produce delivery thing, and loving it!

Both of the photos above were what I got last Saturday –

Top Pic:
– lettuce
– easter egg radishes
– french tarragon (spatchcocked roast chicken, anyone?)
– cilantro
– arugula flowers (my understanding is that the whole thing is edible, who knew?)

Bottom Pic:
– mandarin oranges (seriously, I’ve gotten these in my box from the same farmer every week for Months!  This guy has some serially productive trees!)
– valencia oranges
– rutabagas
– carrots (hidden under oranges, but they’re there, I promise)
– daikon radish (also hidden under oranges, but also there)
– potatoes
– cabbage
– and oh yeah, strawberries!

I was gonna have some kitchen fun this weekend, except that Hubby is, well, basically rebuilding my car, and . . .

. . . since my default setting is worry these days (it’s a just-post-cancer thing – hopefully this too shall pass, in its own time, of course, as is right and proper) . . .

. . . I decided to hang out with him, keeping him company, watching over his safety (I Already know he would Never knowingly compromise his safety Or let me drive a car that wasn’t safe), making sure he got fed, and generally being his parts bitch when necessary.  Oh, and starting to knit a fantastic grey cowl (I know – the weather’s getting warm now, but for some reason I seem to a be a cold-weather-only knitter – shrug) for myself when parts-bitch-service was not required!

Hopefully those beautiful strawberries will survive long enough to be made into Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake, but if they don’t, they’ll likely end up overripe and supersweet gracing some oatmeal or greek yogurt.

Stay tuned for upcoming Rebuilding a Mazda 3 posts!

Copyright Ridingthebcrollercoaster.com 2012-2013 All Rights Reserved.

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Breakfast January 5, 2013: Oatmeal with Organic Bartlett Pears

Breakfast 1-5-13

Sharing the organic goodness . . .

– Trader Joe’s Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal
– organic bartlett pear from Abundant Harvest Organics
– cinnamon
– nutmeg
– raisins
– splash of Half & Half
– pat of butter

Yum!

[Okay, so I’m not the best food photographer in the world!]

Copyright Ridingthebcrollercoaster.com 2012-2013 All Rights Reserved.

SNL (1975-1980, 1985-Present): December 29, 2012 – January 1, 2013

Who gets the reference?

Saturday:

– coffee/knitting in the “nest” in my home office

[My “nest” is a loveseat of which each side is an independent recliner, and has lived in my home office since we got it, many moons ago.  On top of it reside a couple of neck pillows and a comforter, so I can be comfies there.]

– Starbucks

[S/F Mocha w/ whip for the drive to the Westside.]

– Lunch @ Mom’s
– Dad’s old (current) place
– Dad’s new place

[Lots of emotions happening with these stops – See “What Looked Like ‘Better” Turned Out to be PMS and a Full Moon.”]

– Frosting Cupcakery

Frosted Cupcakery

[Stopped at this place on the spur of the moment, thinking I’d pick up a cupcake or two (emotional eating, I know, it was a rough day).  When I got there I thought I’m headed through Burbank anyway on my way home which means stopping at Dad’s Donuts because their chocolate cream donut makes my toes curl in a good way – no exaggeration – “Don’t Bother Me, I’m Eating!”

So I happened to see their Frosted Cupcakery’s Hi-Tops and figured I’d get two of those (the seem like two- or three-biters, so they’d be just a nice little taste for Hubby and me).  I got a white chocolate salted caramel and a chocolate peppermint (didn’t see this flavor on their website, so I’m guessing it’s a seasonal deal).]

Sit N Stitch
– Unwind

Unwind Knitting Burbank

– Bed Bath & Beyond

[I had stopped for a salad spinner – I was gonna get one even though Mom said I could have hers since she never uses it – but the line was too long and I was getting tired.  This had been a pretty big day already.]

– Home

Sunday:

– collapse

[Yeah, I got through my Saturday and I was done.  So, I think I did the following things, not necessarily in this order:

– coffee
– reading
– watching tv
– knitting
– napping

After napping, Hubby told me he had placed an order at the Container Store of a few more bits for our ongoing garage remodel project and they had texted him it was ready for pickup – I could come with him to get it or stay home, whatever I wanted.  I decided to go, so . . .]

– Starbucks: coffee for the road
– Container Store: picking up the stuff he’d ordered

[He called them as we pulled up outside, they brought it out and loaded it up – we didn’t even have to get out of the truck – Love That!]

– Maria’s Italian Kitchen: Dinner

[We had previously eaten there a couple months ago, on the way back from one of our trips to Oak Glen (See “SNL (1975-1980, 1985-Present): October 27-28, 2012.”), we didn’t have one near us, we were driving by one and it was almost dinner time – so I asked Hubby if he wanted to eat before we headed home – we did.]

– Home: hanging out while Hubby installed garage bits

Monday:

– 9:00am-1:00pm work

[Yeah, I decided to just stick this in here ‘cuz it’s a half day in what otherwise woulda been another 4-day weekend, and I didn’t wanna make a whole new separate post for it and well, it’s just here – so there.]

– H&M

H&M

[My previous stash of Gap t-shirts is starting to wear out, and I’ve recently fallen in love with H&M’s L.O.G.G. brand t-shirts (they’re cheaper than Gap too) ‘cuz they’re So Soft they’re comfortable directly on my sore nipple, and that’s seriously saying something – SCORE!  So I went and got myself some to replace the ones that are wearing out.]

– Target

Target_640x455

[Stopped by a Target to try to pick up a skirt in my size that Hubby had gotten me, but he had brought home a size too small (yep, if you’re gonna err, that’s the direction to do it!), but couldn’t find it in the size I wanted.  :-(]

– Nap @ Home

[For the rest of today and my overnight, please see “Up at Midnight.”]

Tuesday:

– watch replay of Rose Parade in bed w/ Hubby
– brunch cooked by Hubby

[Yep, food, it’s a thing.  Brunch, it’s a thing.  Hubby says what do I want to eat.  I point him toward some pre-made cheesy hashbrowns I’d bought.  He says how do you want your eggs.  I say however you want to cook them.  Breffast/Brunch:

– Hillshire Farms Cheddarwurst, fried
– pre-made cheesy hashbrowns, nuked
– scrambled eggs with organic red onions, organic thyme, organic rosemary (all from Abundant Harvest Organics – See “I’ve Been Eating More Dirt Lately – Organic Produce Delivery 12-22-12.”), grape tomatoes and crumbled goat cheese!  Yum!

– emptied dishwasher
– loaded dishwasher
– washed dishes
– ran dishwasher
– watched college football on TV with Hubby
– emptied dishwasher

The Palace grill

– made The Palace Grill Rosemary-Buttermilk Muffins
– made roasted veggies

[Organic russet potatoes, organic sweet potatoes, organic butternut squash, some other kind of organic squash, all from Abundant Harvest Organics, drizzled with olive oil & organic rosemary (AHO).]

– nuked mac & cheese

[Added cubed beef tenderloin (crisped up in a pan), organic green onions (AHO), a dash of Half & Half and sprinkled with just a bit of shredded cheddar cheese and the last of the green onions.]

Copyright Ridingthebcrollercoaster.com 2012 All Rights Reserved.

I’ve Been Eating More Dirt Lately – Organic Produce Delivery 12-22-12

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AHO 12-22-12 2 of 2

Yep, you read that right.  I’m of the era (and I can’t find the post on Facebook that spells it out though I’ve shared it on my own timeline) that talks about being thrown out of the house in the morning to play until I got hungry enough to come back for lunch, and then again in the afternoon until the streetlights came on, at which general time it was getting dark and time for dinner.

[Updated January 10, 2013: I found it on FB yesterday – this is the graphic I was thinking about:

When we grew up...

Yay!]

Part of growing up in that era is that as kids we ended up eating a little dirt.  Our moms didn’t hover to the point that anything dropped on the ground was scooped up and washed with soap or alcohol before being given back.  We picked it up again, put it in our mouths, and consequently ended up eating some dirt.

Well, I’m Back to eating some dirt and it’s a good thing.

For years I’ve been seeing these organic produce delivery services generally in Southern California.  Unfortunately, I live enough on the edge of town (but still actually In town, mind you) that nobody has yet been willing to deliver to my house.  Hopeful click by hopeful click to each new website promising to bring organic family farm veggies to my door, and nada . . . until Abundant Harvest Organics.

Found them a couple of weeks ago.  Turns out they have a Saturday distribution center at a local community college, and Even Better, some enterprising lady has decided to make few extra bucks ($5 per week) picking up at the distribution center and delivering to local homes – including mine!  🙂

So, for $22.xx (plus $5) delivery per week, every Saturday morning a small box (supposed to be enough for 2 people for a week) shows up on my porch.  I’ve been very impressed and wanted to share.

Both of the photos above were what I got last Saturday –

Top Pic:
– oranges
– bartlett pears
– potatos
– carrots
– sweet potatoes
– butternut squash
– beet

Bottom Pic:
– thyme
– lettuce
– green onions
– collard greens

Each delivery also comes with a single, double-sided flyer talking about the items in the box, which farmer grew what, and offering up recipes to make with them.  This post is not meant to be an advertisement necessarily, but if you’re interested and live in CA, hit up their website and see if they deliver near/to you.

Looks great, right?  First thing I did was have a slightly gritty salad.  I took half of one of those heads of lettuce, carefully washed and dried it (I can see I’m gonna need a salad spinner and soon!), cut it up, added some other stuff and chowed down.  I swear I washed it carefully and still had a couple gritty bites and I don’t care.

I really love that this food Looks like it was in the ground where it was grown probably no more than a couple days before it landed on my porch.

I’m glad to be back eating some dirt.

As time goes on, if I’m so moved, I’ll share some of the dishes I make with my beautiful, organic, local-family-farm-grown produce.